López de Heredia 2010 Viña Tondonia Blanco Reserva

I first tasted the gems of Lopez de Heredia at on of the annual “Top 100” tastings in San Francisco - back in the day when we could all get together in an enclosed space. These impressive tastings feature the top 100 global producers, and the Heredia wines were among the standouts (I’ll always remember their white wine from the 1961 vintage, a marvel like no other I’ve tasted. Current price? Just this side of a grand!)

Yes, these wines age well! Grown by Spain’s top producer who is, frankly, a bit mystified by their sudden global stardom and stratospheric scores, as they’ve been producing these wines in the same way for generations. If you're not familiar with Heredia, I’m pleased to be the one who introduces them to you. You'll tank me later.

Tondonia is their more prestigious vineyard, and tends to garner greater scores. But the wines from Tondonia require a bit more age than other Heredia wines. This one, for example, is still quite the baby, as it's capable of rewarding those with sufficient patience to lay it down for another decade. Or three.

A note on their "Reserva" designation - the wine ages (first in large oak casks and then barrels and then bottles) for longer than the law requires. In fact, Heredia ages their Reservas as long or longer than the law specifies for the term "Gran Reserva" - why? They have the wherewithal to hold every wine until they feel it's ready for release, regardless of the category it is destined for - Reserva or Gran Reserva be damned!

I recorded a video introducing the Heredia winery. It's posted on YouTube and the QR code on the back of every bottle links to it, but you can get a sneak peak here, just copy/paste this non-active link into a browser -

https://youtu.be/PNl2RWRNaa0